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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Recipe for Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw

This Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw is something I could eat over and over!

It's a lucky break for me that cabbage happens to be one of the most diet-friendly ingredients around, as well as being an uber-nutritious cruciferous vegetable, because I'm such a huge fan of cabbage salad like this Spicy Cilantro Peanut Slaw that I could eat it almost every day. I do have some favorite cabbage salads that I make over and over, but when I see a new cabbage salad recipe that looks interesting, it always gets my attention. When I spotted a recipe for Crunchy Peanut Slaw on The Kitchn, I knew I'd be making some version of it soon. And of course the generous amount of cilantro and the use of Sriracha in the dressing makes this a double winner for me.

(It's the very last day for A Month of Daily Phase One Recipes, and I'm proud I haven't missed a single day even though I got a broken arm the second week of the month! Yesterday I promised one more recipe that would work for Superbowl parties, and this delicious Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw is something I'd happily gobble up, no matter what else was on the table. If you have people who don't like cilantro, I'd just leave it out and use more sliced green onions.)

I figured chopped cabbage, green onions, and cilantro doesn't make for especially interesting photos, but I did take a photo of the peanuts, which I chopped using the bowl attachment of my Immersion Blender. You can also chop them by hand, but I liked the way this gave a mix of finely and coarsely chopped peanuts.

Once all the ingredients are chopped and the dressing is mixed, combine the finely chopped cabbage, green onions, and cilantro in a bowl, then mix in the dressing. (I'd add dressing a little at a time, until the salad is as wet as you'd like it.)

Then add the chopped peanuts, and stir gently to combine them with the other ingredients.

Finally, taste the salad and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. You can chop the ingredients and mix the dressing ahead, but this is best when ingredients are combined right before it's eaten.

Cut cabbage head in half and save half for another salad. Remove core from the half you're using, then cut cabbage into very thin slices (less than 1/4 inch) and turn cutting board the other direction and cut again to chop into very small pieces. Thinly slice green onions, chop cilantro, and chop peanuts.

In a bowl or glass measuring cup, mix together rice vinegar, sweetener of your choice, sesame oil, soy sauce, and Sriracha sauce if using. Use a whisk to mix in oil until dressing is well-combined.

In large plastic or glass bowl, gently combine chopped cabbage, sliced green onions, and chopped cilantro. Add dressing a little at a time, until salad seems as wet as you'd like it. (You may not need all the dressing.) Add chopped peanuts, and stir a few times until peanuts are mixed in. Taste salad for seasoning, and add salt and freshly ground black pepper as desired. Serve immediately.

Cabbage, cilantro, and green onions are great ingredients for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Be sure not to have nuts for a snack on the day you eat this salad, because the amount of nuts is a generous serving for South Beach, probably making this a "once in a while treat." To eat this for phase one, use Splenda or Stevia granulated to sweeten; agave nectar is great for phase two or three. If you're on another type of low-carb diet, this salad is very low in carbs even if you do use the agave nectar or honey to sweeten it.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

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Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

Of course, being the heretic that I am, I would sub flat-leaf parsley for the cilantro. But otherwise this dish is the perfect combination of crunchy and spicy, and I'm bookmarking for my own "a recipe to try" file.

Sorry I am really neglecting comments on this post. I've been really sick; in fact I went to the Utah production of Miss Saigon and had to take a taxi home from the theater. Today I stayed home from work and thought I was feeling better, but I ended up spending most of the day asleep on the couch.

Kalyn, this looks delicious. I love cabbage salads, too. I also got a weirdly big kick out of seeing you feature the bowl attachment to the immersion blender. I love that thing and don't think it gets nearly enough airtime!

Lately, I've discovered how many people around me despise cilantro and I'm thinking that some of them haven't even tasted it executed in a proper way. I say this because I remember the first time I tasted cilantro I didn't like it either. It was because it was used in some weird experimental cooking by my mom who didn't know how to use cilantro at the time. When used with the right flavors I think it's irreplaceable, i.e. Thai cuisine for example. Glad you love cilantro and keep posting recipes with cilantro in it. :)

First- I hope you feel better soon, Kalyn. Spring is no time to get sick. And this slaw- beautiful. My favorite combination of flavors. Isn't it funny how some loathe cilantro? (Cumin, too.) Go figure. (Lydia- love you even if you're a heretic. Or maybe even because of it.;-) xox

I don't think I eat cabbage nearly enough. In fact, I'm certain of it because I can't remember the last time I had it! This recipe looks wonderful though, I think I may add it to our menu for next week.

So happy that everyone is liking this recipe. I do want to emphasize this is best freshly made; if you can't eat it all, I'd only put dressing on part of it, and save the rest to add dressing to later.

It must have been kismet. I was over at Lydia's looking at a pretty pantry and decided to click over to your site and behold! There before me was the next thing I was going to look for on the net.... a nice, interesting healthy slaw involving cilantro and peanuts! I am making pork marinated in a peanut buttery hot sauce that will be grilled serving with homemade flat breads. Thank you!

Looking for creative uses for cilantro? Then try this awesome recipe. This recipe does not disappoint. It's a snap to prepare and really tasty. All my favorite flavors are in this Spicy Cilantro-Peanut Slaw!

This salad is SOOOOOOO good! As I was making it, I realized that I didn't have canola or peanut oil, so I used vegetable - sounded gross, but it turned out really good! This salad reminds me of the Chinois Salad from Wolfgang Puck Express - yum!!

This looks soooo fresh & good. One question: each of the sweetener options that you listed have different sweetening capabilities. For example, I know that you usually use less honey than sugar because it is much sweeter. Do you have any ideas on how to adjust the amount if you're using honey or agave?

Love your blog! I am actually eating this as we speak (well for the most part) I had some veggies in the fridge that i wanted to use up so i added shredded carrots and snap peas, plus some grilled chicken and lime juice.

It is absolutely delicious. The vinagrette is amazing, I usually dont like slaws, but this is a unique and tasty spin! Thanks for sharing it with us!

This is delicious! I am so glad that I found your website. I was recently diagnosed insulin resistant & your recipes are just what I need to keep up my new way of life (basically no sugar or carbs at all). I am already -18 lbs. You are helping people get healthier one recipe at a time! Thanks!

This is so good! I am on day 2 of phase 1 and Ive already made a couple of your recipes. I went to the store just to get cabbage for this because I had to have it right when I saw it. It was so good. I followed the recipe exactly. Also, I made it a lunch with the leftovers the next day and topped it with leftover ground turkey from the Spicy Asian Lettuce Cups, also from your blog and also fantastic. One question, I use splenda to sweeten things and Im wondering if I was to use 1T of splenda. That seemed like a lot and I only have the packets so I used 2 packets. Thanks for posting!!

Thanks for joining the conversation! I love hearing from readers and even though I can't always reply to every comment, I will always answer specific questions on a recipe as soon as possible. Sometimes I'm answering by iPhone, so my replies may be short!

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